NECO National Common Entrance Exam Numbers Slide to 58,187 Nationwide

The National Examinations Council (NECO) has successfully conducted the 2026 National Common Entrance Examination across the federation, recording a smooth, largely hitch-free administrative exercise despite an unexpected drop in overall candidate turnout. Following an extensive physical monitoring tour of multiple urban testing facilities in Abuja, NECO Registrar Professor Ibrahim Wushishi confirmed that exactly 58,187 primary school pupils sat for the high-stakes examination, which dictates competitive admission slots into elite Federal Government Colleges. The current turnout represents a significant statistical decline from the 2025 examination cycle, which saw a robust pool of 64,578 registered candidates vying for the same secondary school placements.

Despite the shrinking overall numbers, educational authorities highlighted a major victory for regional gender parity, revealing that female candidates formed the absolute majority of this year's test-takers. Official data indicates that more than 31,000 girls registered and sat for the exam, compared to approximately 26,000 male candidates nationwide. Minister of State for Education, Professor Suwaiba Ahmad, remarked that the high enrollment of girls stands as a testament to the success of targeted federal policies aimed at promoting girl-child education, particularly across historically marginalized regions. However, a stark geographic imbalance remains visible within the final data, with Lagos State recording the highest concentration of test-takers at 13,228 pupils, while a severely underfunded Taraba State registered a total of just fifteen candidates for the entire national exercise.